Think
Shrove Tuesday: Pancake or confession?
IMAGINE a woman wearing an apron and holding a frying pan containing a hot pancake running up the pathway leading to the sanctuary in your church compound. Besides frowns and amusement, you may be baffled when the woman begins her confession of sins. Pure imagination and speculation in a time when we are required to […]
Soundings
Answers to pessimism
PART 5 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 2:12-26 THE Preacher continues his relentless quest for the meaning of life by once again turning to wisdom and comparing it with folly. Some commentators say that in this instance, the Preacher has in mind practical […]
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No time wasting in John Wesley’s journeys
LONDON — The understanding of life as a journey has always played an important part in Christian imagery, but for John Wesley and the early Methodist pioneers, journeying was also of enormous practical significance — not the least because of its importance in holding together and strengthening the spreading network of Methodism. During his lifetime, […]
Film / Book Reviews
A guide that gathers the best elements of devotional worship
Songs for Renewal A Devotional Guide to the Riches of Our Best-Loved Songs & Hymns Authors: Janet Lindeblad Janzen with Richard J. Foster Publisher: HarperSan Francisco SONGS FOR RENEWAL is an innovative, devotional book that brings together all the best elements of devotional worship – Scripture, music, prayers and reflection. The book is […]
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Nature, nurture and spirit probably have a hand in passing on Family scripts
FAMILY stories often seem to have recurring themes. Some therapists call them family scripts. It seems as if unwritten but nevertheless powerful scripts find expression generation after generation. Researchers have noted that certain patterns in attitude and behaviour tend to be repeated in family history. Alcoholism, suicide, domestic violence, broken families, and other patterns of […]
Think
Can Christians believe in astrology?
ARE you a dragon? A horse? A Gemini? A Librian? Astrology uses these signs to describe you by judging the positions and qualities of the stars and planets according to their influence on events or human personality – in fact, upon all areas of life, including the future. Astrology sees our world as a miniature […]
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Creativity, art and the Christian’s responsibility
WHAT is art? For most of us, when we think of art we immediately think of sculptures, museums and art galleries. To us, art is not an everyday thing – it is something abstract, remote and perhaps even elitist. In our minds, only the privileged can enjoy art – that is, one must either be […]
Soundings
Memory and personhood
RECENTLY, while doing research on biomedicine, I stumbled across the transcript of an interesting discussion on current research in memory formation conducted by the United States President’s Council on Bioethics. Two memory research experts, Dr James McGaugh and Dr Daniel Schachter, gave their reports at the dialogue chaired by Dr Leon Kass. What caught my […]
Think
PLEASURE PALLS
PART 4 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 UNABLE to find satisfaction in the wisdom of the world, the Preacher dipped into the well of irrationalism and turned to pleasure as a solution. “I said to myself, ‘Come now, Let’s give pleasure a […]
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Now that’s a story to tell
INSPIRATIONAL stories from the Internet: who hasn’t been flooded with them? There’s one about Farmer Fleming, a poor Scotsman who one day heard a cry for help and ran to save a boy from drowning in the bog. The next day, the boy’s father, a nobleman, pulled up in a fancy carriage and offered payment. […]
Expressions
What Do You Buy in Bethlehem?
“WHAT do you buy in Bethlehem?” Asked a tourist on her way, “Or beads, or rugs or shining brass, Or damascene, or crystal glass? What souvenirs, I pray?” Now, I’ve been in the shops in Bethlehem I’ve elbowed the travelling lot Buying mother-of-pearl, and olive woods And “Bethlehem stars” and other goods, But my frozen […]
Soundings
A chasing after the wind
PART 3 OF THE SERIES OF MEDITATIONS ON ‘WISDOM TO LIVE BY: MODERN REFLECTIONS ON AN ANCIENT TEXT’ Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 “KNOWLEDGE is Power!” Ever since Michel Foucault, the French post-modern philosopher, formulated it, this slogan has been repeated, mantra-like, by politicians, scientists, policy makers and intellectuals of every stripe. Of course, the slogan does give […]
Film / Book Reviews
What Jesus’ teachings meant to the early Christians
Beyond Belief Author: Elaine Pagels PROFESSOR Elaine Pagels’ latest book, Beyond Belief, is on the New York Times bestseller list. She reflects her own religious quest and scholarly research on early Christianity, exploring historical and archaeological sources and what Jesus and His teachings meant to eyewitnesses and early Christians. Her personal crises led her […]
Think
Of Christian trust and fatalism in gloomy situations
IN A global climate whose fluidity and uncertainty could bring devastating consequences to our small economy, there is an urgent need for us to make changes and adjustment. This is a painful reality when our pockets are hit, our comfortable lifestyle needs drastic tuning and our personal God appears remote when our supplications do not […]
